Kobe praises Spurs' playoff teams, snubs Duncan on personal top 5

SAN ANTONIO, TX - DECEMBER 11: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers greets Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs before the game at AT&T Center on December 11, 2015 in San Antonio,Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. less

SAN ANTONIO, TX - DECEMBER 11: Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers greets Tim Duncan #21 of the San Antonio Spurs before the game at AT&T Center on December 11, 2015 in San Antonio,Texas. NOTE TO USER: ... more

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How Kobe Bryant's record compares to Tim Duncan's.

How Kobe Bryant's record compares to Tim Duncan's.

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Number of NBA championships:

5 each

PHOTO: Tim Duncan savors his latest championship celebration with his teammates, including Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard (left) as the confetti rains down at the AT&T Center after the Spurs wrapped up the NBA title Sunday night by beating the Miami Heat 104-87 in Game 5.

PHOTO:
The Lakers' Bryant drives around the Spurs' Tim Duncan during second half action in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals on May 29, 2008, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Lakers defeated the Spurs 100-92 to win the Western Conference.

PHOTO: Duncan wins his second straight MVP 2003, becoming one of 14 players to win the award multiple times. Even more impressively, he does it at a time when his competition includes Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Garnett, both of whom are at or near their peaks.

PHOTO: San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan celebrates as he was named the MVP of the NBA Finals. San Antonio won, 81-74, to win the championship.in game seven of the NBA finals in San Antonio, Thursday, June 23, 2005.

PHOTO: In this Jan. 12, 2010 file photo, San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan, right, passes the ball around Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant (24) during the third quarter of an NBA basketball game, in San Antonio.

With a weight lifted from his shoulders, the 37-year-old has been jovial and welcoming with the media.

He punctuates his comments with sly smirks and grins. He has replaced his typical glare with snickering laughter. The future Hall of Famer is making his transition from "Mamba" to old man as entertaining as possible.

With that has come a degree of candor regarding his career.

On a global conference call with 146 reporters from 24 countries, Bryant reminisced on the greatest players and teams he has ever dueled with.

He named the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, early 2000s Sacramento Kings, 2004 Detroit Pistons, 2008 Boston Celtics and postseason Spurs as the five toughest teams he has ever played, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

Bryant met the Spurs in the playoffs six times, including four straight seasons from 2001 to 2004. His Los Angeles Lakers generally came out the victor, leading the series 4-2.

It was an inauspicious start to the rivalry for a 20-year-old Bryant, though.

The Lakers were swept in the 1999 Western Conference Semifinals, the first postseason meeting between Bryant and Tim Duncan.

At that time, the Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal Lakers had yet to coalesce into the juggernaut that would win three straight championships from 2000 to 2002.

A 22-year-old Duncan overpowered even the mountainous O'Neal — he averaged 29 points, 10.8 rebounds 3.3 steals and two blocks in 44 minutes against the Lakers, and would go on to lead the Spurs to the franchise's first championship and his first Finals MVP.

That would be the Lakers last playoff series loss until 2003, when Duncan and his two foreign friends Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker abruptly ended the hallowed quest for a four-peat.

Duncan, then at the apex of his powers, averaged 28 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 blocks. Serving as a foil for Bryant and O'Neal once again, the Spurs ran to their second title, and Duncan to his second Finals MVP.

Reloaded with a 40-year-old Karl Malone and 35-year-old Gary Payton, a somewhat more balanced Lakers group would have their revenge in the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals, coming back from an 0-2 hole to win the series 4-2.

That whole experiment blew up in coach Phil Jackson's face in the NBA Finals though, with the gritty, team-first Detroit Pistons grinding them into a pulp.

The two Western Conference powers would not meet in the playoffs again until 2008, an eternity in sports years.

More Information

Kobe Bryant vs. Spurs in the playoffs

1999: San Antonio Spurs win, 4-0

2001: Los Angeles Lakers win, 4-0

2002: Los Angeles Lakers win, 4-1

2003: San Antonio Spurs win, 4-2

2004: Los Angeles Lakers win, 4-2

2008: Los Angeles Lakers win, 4-1

The Spurs had just come off the last of their three titles in five years. Duncan was still feared, but Parker and Ginobili were now seen as equal partners in the endeavor.

It was a new age where each team seemed obsessed with creating a "Big Three."

Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen had joined Paul Pierce in Boston to create the most formidable Celtics trio since Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish roamed the Boston Garden floor together in the 1980s.

Another triumvirate had emerged in L.A., consisting of Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, who began their run of three straight Finals appearances in 2008.

The Spurs took just one game in those Western Conference Finals. Bryant went full "Mamba" in Game 5, finishing the reigning champions off with 39 points in a 100-92 win.

Neither could know it then, but that was the last time Bryant and Duncan would meet in the playoffs. (The Spurs played the Lakers in the 2013 playoffs, by Bryant sat out with an injury.)

Of the 30 times Bryant and Duncan met in the postseason, the Lakers won 18. Both had their share of legendary performances.

Bryant's 45-points, 10-rebound Game 1 demolition of the Spurs in the 2001 Western Conference Finals was performance art.

Duncan's 37-point, 16-rebound line in Game 6 of the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals ended the Lakers' quest for a fourth consecutive title in the most emphatic of fashions.

Every game has felt like a clash of two distinct wills looking to conquer the other and prove their superiority as this era's greatest champion.

"It was always a dogfight," Popovich said of the matchups. "Sometimes we came out on top, sometimes the Lakers did."

But despite years of rivalry and one-upsmanship with the future Hall of Famer, Bryant neglected to mention Duncan when asked to name the top five players he ever faced.

The 20-year pro named Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Clyde Drexler to his personal list.

Bryant met Duncan 80 times in his career, far more than any of the others he listed.

It seems an odd omission, though, with the exception of Olajuwon, Bryant chose wing players like himself, an obvious bias one in his position might make considering he actually went head-to-head with those players on both ends of the court.

Perhaps it is a calculated move by Bryant, loathe to give more credit to the man many view as the superior player. Or maybe Bryant is just telling the world his honest opinion.

But regardless of who Bryant places in his top five, the Lakers legend holds Duncan and the Spurs in high regard.

"They have forced us to be our absolute best whenever we played against them," Bryant said following the Spurs' 109-87 win over the Lakers Dec. 11. "We constantly think about them throughout the course of the year and are always looking at what they are doing and how they are playing.